Connect Jira Cloud so the AI can reference your projects and issues — and optionally sync Briefs and Tasks bidirectionally.
This feature may need to be enabled for your workspace.
The Jira Connection gives the AI access to your Jira Cloud instance. Once connected, the AI can answer questions about your projects, search issues, and use Jira data as context when generating Briefs or responding to questions about your team's work.
Like Linear, Jira also supports optional two-way sync — keep Briefs and Tasks synchronized with Jira issues and epics. Changes flow both directions: update an issue in Jira and Hamster picks it up, update a Task in Hamster and it appears in Jira.
The Connection uses Atlassian OAuth, so you authorize through your Atlassian account.
The Connection is named after your Jira Cloud instance (for example, "Acme Corp").
Hamster requests the following permissions from Atlassian:
read:jira-work — Read projects and issues (required)read:jira-user — Read user and team information (required)write:jira-work — Write issues and fields (required for two-way sync only)You can connect Jira for AI context only (read access) without granting write permissions. Write permissions are only needed if you enable two-way sync.
Access is limited to projects your Atlassian account can see. The Connection automatically discovers all projects accessible to your account at authorization.
When two-way sync is active, Hamster creates a bidirectional link between:
| Hamster | Jira |
|---|---|
| Brief | Epic |
| Task | Issue |
Changes in status, assignee, priority, and body/description flow both directions. Hamster uses smart merge for concurrent edits so neither tool loses data.
New Jira Connections start with two-way sync disabled. This gives you a safe setup path: connect for context first, then enable task syncing when you're ready.
| Entity / Field | Hamster → Jira | Jira → Hamster |
|---|---|---|
| Brief/epic title | Yes | Yes |
| Brief/epic description | Yes | Yes |
| Brief/epic status | Yes | Yes |
| Task/issue title | Yes | Yes |
| Task/issue description | Yes | Yes |
| Task/issue status | Yes | Yes |
| Task/issue assignee | Yes | Yes |
| Task/issue priority | Yes | Yes |
When the same field is changed in both tools simultaneously, Hamster uses last-writer-wins at the field level. The most recent change is applied and both tools converge to the same state. Rich Task body content (text, formatting, images, mentions) uses intelligent merge so concurrent edits don't conflict.
A 5-second loop-prevention window plus per-event idempotency keys stop changes from echoing back and forth.
Assignees flow bidirectionally. When Jira sends an assignee Hamster doesn't know about, Hamster shows the external user's name on the Task and notifies a teammate with invite permissions to bring them into the workspace. Once they accept, assignments backfill automatically.
Hamster never auto-creates shadow users — every Hamster user is explicitly invited.
Jira projects use custom statuses. On first Connection with two-way sync enabled, Hamster reads your Jira project's built-in status categories and maps them to Hamster's workflow:
Because the mapping is based on Jira's status categories rather than status names, it works automatically regardless of what your team calls its statuses. Hamster doesn't have a separate "In Review" stage today — review-type statuses land in In Progress.
If your Atlassian account has access to more than one Jira Cloud instance, Hamster connects to the first accessible instance. If you need to connect a specific instance, use an Atlassian account that has access only to that instance, or contact support.
For AI context-only Connections (without two-way sync), Jira uses live federated search. When the AI needs Jira context, it queries your Jira instance directly at that moment. Results always reflect the current state of your Jira board — newly created issues, status changes, reassignments, and all recent activity.
When two-way sync is enabled, Tasks and Briefs that have synced display a Jira badge with the external identifier (e.g., PROJ-123). Click the badge to jump straight to the Jira issue or epic.
Tasks created under a Brief link to that brief's Jira epic through Jira's native parent field — the issue description itself carries only the task's own content, not a reference to the originating brief.
If your Jira OAuth token expires or your workspace permissions change, Hamster shows a Reconnect required badge on your Jira Connection card. This can happen when:
When reconnect is required:
You don't lose any sync history or mapped entities when you reconnect.
Hamster surfaces Connection health in the Connection card:
For two-way sync, you can view detailed operation history including sync logs, conflict resolutions, and error details from the Connection settings.
For AI-only Connections, live search means you always get current data — no manual sync is needed.
For two-way sync Connections, changes propagate automatically via webhooks. If you manually restructure projects or make major bulk changes in Jira, you can trigger a manual reconciliation from the Connection settings to ensure Hamster is fully up-to-date.